1,000 Endangered Research Monkeys To Be Re-Exported Back To Wildlife Traffickers In Cambodia; Urge They Be Sent To Born Free’s Sanctuary

Born Free USA, a leading animal welfare organization, along with partners at PETA, urge the public to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ask the agency to reverse its decision to re-export an estimated 1,000 endangered juvenile long-tail macaques to Cambodia. If the macaques are sent back to wildlife traders, they will likely be recycled back into a cruel system of exploitation. Please ask the Service to allow the animals to be rehomed at Born Free USA’s primate sanctuary.

Since September 2022, Born Free USA and their colleagues at PETA have worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials to rescue a group of macaques that had been illegally imported from Cambodia for exploitation in laboratories in the United States. After months of negotiation and planning, Born Free USA agreed to accept the monkeys at its primate sanctuary in south Texas.

On March 13th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the juvenile monkeys, who were stolen from their wild homes in Cambodia, and illegally imported to be exploited in U.S. laboratories, are being handed back to the very people responsible for their suffering.

“We have been in talks with Fish and Wildlife Services since September of last year and have repeatedly reiterated our desire and willingness to provide lifetime sanctuary for these young monkeys,” said Dr. Liz Tyson-Griffin, programs director and head of the sanctuary at Born Free USA. “These young monkeys will either be abandoned with no attempt at rehabilitation, or simply recycled back through the system and re-exported for exploitation in other labs. Either way, their future is bleak — this is a death sentence.”

”They deserve safety. They deserve to be cherished as individuals and not exploited as commodities. Please join us in calling for these monkeys to be sent to a safe sanctuary home where they can heal and live without fear of exploitation,” Dr. Liz Tyson-Griffin continued.

PETA has made a generous pledge of $1 million to help fund the rescue of the macaques if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is willing to agree on plans to provide long-term sanctuary to these endangered monkeys. The American Anti-Vivisection Society made another generous pledge to save the monkeys. If successful, this would be the largest monkey rescue in history.

In a statement this week, Lisa Jones-Engel of PETA said, “The monkeys did not leave Charles River Laboratories. PETA stationed individuals all day long outside the company’s Houston facility, and none of the 1,000 monkeys, who were in danger of being shipped back to Cambodia, left. Thousands of PETA supporters e-mailed and called the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, urging the agency to release the animals to a sanctuary instead of allowing them to be sent back to Cambodia to be funneled back into the forest-to-laboratory pipeline.”

“An operation to rescue this many monkeys is a huge practical and financial undertaking but, with the right funding and the time to create the infrastructure to support their care, it is possible and our team is standing ready to get it done,” said Angela Grimes, Born Free USA’s CEO. “We urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to reengage with us and to continue the positive discussions we have been involved in since September of last year. Rescue is an option. These monkeys have a home here.”

TAKE ACTION to help save the lives of these endangered monkeys HERE!